Two writers on Chilean history during the last years of the colonial period were José Pérez García and Vicente Carvallo y Goyeneche. Pérez García was born in 1721, at Colindres, a little town in Spain near Santander. His parents are described in their letters patent of nobility as “_caballeros nobles, hijodalgos de sangre y naturaleza_.” He acquired only the limited education ordinarily obtained by young persons who intended to devote themselves to commerce. At the age of twenty he left Spain for America in company with an older brother, who made a considerable fortune in Upper Peru, and also conducted a commercial house in Buenos Aires. For ten years Pérez García remained in that city engaged in mercantile pursuits. Here he laid the basis of the fortune that later insured his independence. About the middle of the century he went to Chile, and continued his activity in mercantile affairs in Santiago. Here his recognized honesty and his wealth acquired for him an honourable position in the community, and his marriage with María del Rosario Salas y Ramírez, the daughter of a rich Spanish merchant, added to his fortune, and fixed his intimate relations with the most conspicuous elements of Chilean society. After his withdrawal from active business he continued to live in Santiago. In his retirement he sought unsuccessfully from the king the rank and title of lieutenant-colonel, not with a view of exercising the functions of command, but for the sake of the social distinction this title would confer. One of the characteristic features of this colonial society is seen in the importance attached to titles and distinctive rank. [Sidenote: Contents of García’s book] [Sidenote: Lack of literary skill] [Sidenote: Ground of García’s superiority]